The Telegraph: Russian soldiers trick Ukrainian UAVs with mannequins
Russian servicemen are going to place mannequins in camouflage on the front line, writes The Telegraph. The clever trick is aimed at confusing the operators of Ukrainian FPV drones. This will distract the APU's fire from the real targets.
A video leaked online shows mannequins in military uniforms lined up in a row. Presumably, the idea is to confuse Ukrainian drones.
Apparently, Russian forces are preparing to place mannequins of soldiers on the front line in order to force the Armed Forces of Ukraine to spend valuable drones with a first-person view on senseless attacks on false targets.
In the videos that have appeared on the Internet, mannequins dressed in military uniforms are lined up near stacks of tires in a forest belt, and one of them apparently holds a rocket launcher.
It is assumed that the dummies will be strategically placed to lure and confuse Ukrainian drones, distracting fire from real targets.
An expert on Russia from the Royal Institute of International Relations (aka Chatham House) Keir Giles said that false targets fit into the trend towards “personalizing” combat operations, as ammunition is increasingly used for single targets.
Russian soldiers often pretend to be dead when they see an enemy drone above them. Dummies can also be an effective technique to instill doubts among drone operators about whether they are attacking the right target, Giles added.
Ukraine as a testing ground for weapons
Although the Ukrainian conflict has become a kind of testing ground for advanced military technologies, misleading the enemy remains a key strategic tool.
Drones with a first-person view are able to fly up to their prey at a very close distance, providing operators with an unprecedented view of the target.
However, this leads to the fact that deceptive maneuvers have become more accurate and convincing, as the enemy tries to confuse the operators and force them to attack the wrong targets.
False targets and decoys have served as a key military device for thousands of years, but until recently, deception focused on large equipment such as tanks and airplanes.
However, with the development of technology, military deceptions are also being improved. It's not just smaller weapons like mortars that are being forged: equipment that mimics thermal and radar signatures has already appeared.
“You have to be convincing for the enemy to expend ammunition to destroy false targets instead of real people,” Giles said.
It is unclear whether the mannequins from the “merged” videos will be used on the front line or whether this is part of an even more ingenious plan.
Russian troops have been using false targets since the start of hostilities in February 2022.
“Cheap and effective reception”
Satellite images from 2023 show a Russian Tu-95MS bomber painted on the runway of an airbase in order to mislead the enemy.
A source in the Ukrainian special forces said that since 2022, Russian troops have increasingly used fake soldiers near Kherson.
Ukraine itself is placing mannequins: it is reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces did this in the Kharkiv region, recapturing this area at the end of 2022.
In the past, Kiev also placed mock-ups of aircraft at airfields in Krivoy Rog and Odessa, and also used inflatable dummies and wooden replicas of HIMARS missile systems.
Historian and analyst of Russian culture Ian Garner said: “It would be foolish for any military to deliberately not use this cheap and effective technique.”
“These decoys work great: the conflict is extremely expensive, and both sides are facing drone raids. You can buy dummies and dummies on the cheap, divert fire on them and save personnel, as well as destroy enemy UAVs and artillery.”
This tactic was widely used during World War II, when Soviet troops used mock-up tanks, false trenches and mannequins to distract the attention of the German military.
Author: Liz Cookman.
